Men's World Cup
Coaches quotes ahead of World Cup Tokyo, Japan, November 15, 2003 -
The 2003 Men's World Cup begins on Sunday in the Japanese cities
of Tokyo and Nagano and here is what the coaches of the 12
competing teams had to say:
MorePic: The six coaches (left to right - Di
Anhe, China. Stelio DeRocco, Canada. Veselin Vukovic, Egypt.
Ljubomir Travica, Serbia and Montenegro. Mikiyasu Tanaka, Japan.
Doug Beal - USA) at Site A in Tokyo join together ahead of the
opening day's play on Sunday
Coach Profiles
World Cup Schedule
Team Profiles
Player Profiles

Men's Olympic qualifier starts Sunday Tokyo, Japan, November 14, 2003 - The
2003 FIVB World Cup of men's Volleyball gets underway on Sunday
in the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Nagano with 12 of the
world's best teams fighting for fast-track entry into the 2004
Olympic tournament. At the end of this round robin contest on
November 30 the top three ranked teams directly qualify for
Athens 2004.
MorePic: The
Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo where the opening and final
matches will be stagedMen's World
Cup begins Sunday for USA in JapanCOLORADO
SPRINGS, Colo., November 14, 2003 - The USA men's national
Volleyball team begins its journey to the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens, Greece, on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan when the 2003 Men's
World Cup begins.
MorePic: USA celebrate victory over Brazil at 2002 World Champs

Brazilian Team ready for Cup campaign Brazilian
men’s coach Bernardo Rezende has named his 12 players who will
attempt to add the World Cup title to their 2003 trophy
collection, which already includes the World League and the
South American continental championship, when the Olympic
qualifying event starts in Japan on Sunday. Rezende’s squad
includes setters Maurício and Ricardinho, Anderson and André
Nascimento as opposites, attackers Giba, Giovane, Dante and
Nalbert, Gustavo, Rodrigão and Andres Heller (middle) and líbero
Escadinha.
MorePic: Brazil celebrate
their victory at the 2003 World League

Olympic
Games spot sole goal for FranceNovember
7, 2003 - Philippe Blain, the head coach of the French men's
team, says expect to see a different French side at the 2003
World Cup to the one, which stuttered to a 10th place finish at
the World League earlier in the year.
MorePic: France will need all the support they can get to
achieve their goal
Brazilian boys gearing up for World CupNovember
6, 2003 - Brazilian coach Bernardo Rezende has grouped together
13 players in a pre-World Cup training camp in Italy before
naming his 12-strong squad on Sunday for the first Olympic
qualifying event.Giovane, André Heller, Henrique, André
Nascimento, Anderson, Escadinha and Ricardinho have joined Nalbert, Rodrigão, Maurício, Gustavo, Dante and Giba, who all
play in the Italian Championship, in Saint Croce, Italy where
they have been training all week.
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Pic: Rezende is putting his squad through their paces this week

French squad namedNovember
05, 2003 - French coach Philippe Blain has named his 12-man
squad for the Men's 2003 World Cup, which starts on November 16
in Japan. Blain has cut his 18-strong squad to the required 12
and included all the big names, who impressed so much at the
2002 World Championship in Argentina where the Tricolors claimed
the bronze medal.
More
Pic: French coach Philippe Blain with his team during the 2003
World League

Egypt men
prepare for World Cup with Osaka
campNovember
4, 2003 - The Egyptian men's Volleyball team is preparing to
leave for Japan on Friday where they will compete in the Men's
World Cup, which runs from November 16-30, and will enter a
training camp, which includes three friendly matches, in Osaka
straight away to get themselves set for one of the biggest
competition's in their federation's history.
More
Pic: Egyptian head coach Veselin Vukovic coached Serbia
and Montenegro during the 2003 World League

Alexandro Fei out for World Cup Tokyo,
Japan, Nov 3, 2003 – Italy will come to the World Cup without
their star middle blocker Alexandro Fei, who broke his ankle in
the Italian League on Saturday, according to Italian Federation
press officials here in Japan with the Women's World Cup. Fei, a
stalwart of the national team and a dominant presence at the
net, was playing for his club team Sisely Treviso against Padua. Sisely Treviso lost the match 3-2. More
Pic: Fei, here in action
for Italy, will be sadly missed in Japan

French
captain leaves Russia for World Cup October
29, 2003 - Captain of the French team
Dominique Daquin will leave from Moscow for Tokyo when the
French national men's squad heads to Japan for the Men's
World Cup. After 10 years in the French league and three seasons
in the Italian Championship, Daquin, 29, has taken the plunge
and signed to play for Russian club Dynamo Moscow. He has signed
a one year contract with one of the most prestigious and richest
clubs in Russia.
MorePic: Dominique Daquin in true spiking mode
against the Czech Republic during the 2003 World League
French star profiles
Team profileCanada
announces World Cupselection October 21, 2003 - Canada
has announced its 12-man squad for the 2003 Men's World Cup in
Japan, which runs from November 16-30. The World Cup is the
first official FIVB Olympic Qualifier, with the top three
placing teams gaining berths to the 2004 Athens Olympics. "Qualifying
for this year's World Cup means a great deal to this program and
team," head coach Stelio DeRocco told Volleyball Canada. "Being
the first of three Olympic qualifying tournaments, the calibre
of teams at the World Cup and the tournament format will no
doubt require us to play at a very high and intense level.
MoreCanada in action against Polan at the 2002 World
Championship where they finished 17th
Canadian star profiles

France unveil squad for World Cup October
13, 2003 - European Continental Men’s Championship runners up
France named their squad for the 2003 World in Japan, which
starts on November 16, on Monday. Coach Philippe Blain has named
an 18-man squad which is notable for the absence of France’s
most experienced player Luc Marquet, who, with more than 300
international caps, retired after the European Championship in
September.
MorePic: Stephane Antiga (blonde hair) and France are all set
for the World Cup

Bernardinho names squad for World CupOctober
9, 2003 - The coach of the Brazilian men's team Bernardo Rezende
unveiled a 20-strong squad on Wednesday for the 2003 Men's World
Cup, which will be held in Japan from November 16-30.
Bernardinho, as he is more affectionately known, named all of
Brazil's stars including Gilberto Godoy Filho, Maurício Lima and
captain Nalbert Bitencourt while Gustavo Endres returns to the
side after missing most of the 2003 World League with injury.
The World Cup is the first Olympic qualifying tournament, where
the three top teams will book their tickets to Athens next year,
and Brazil are one of the favourites having won the 2002 World
Championship and the 2003 World League.
More
Pic: Bernardinho will welcome back half his squad from Italy in
November

World Cup Countdown
Babo-chan a Volleyball veteran & eternal charmerOctober 25, 2003
- When in November the 2003 World Cup teams run onto the courts
in cities all over Japan, a very special mascot will be there to
cheer them. Babo-chan, also interpreted when translated from
Japanese into English as “Vabo-chan”, will lead the cheers and
animate the crowd as tirelessly as he has done at each of these
events for more than three decades.
More
The different eras of Babo-chan

1997-1981 1985-1991
1995
1999
1999

Golden era of JapanOctober
8, 2003 - Japanese Volleyball has a rich tradition in the sport
and once again they will be the hosts for the 2003 World Cup
when the men's and Women's editions start in November. Hiroshi
Takeuchi of Kyodo News takes a look at Japan's wonderful past.
Japan enjoyed their golden era in the 1960's and 1970's. The
head coach of the women's national team in the 60's was Hirofumi
Daimatsu, who was a charismatic character with his army-style
discipline and hard training. They shocked the then
European-dominated women's field, when they advanced to the
final of the 1960 World Championship in Brazil to collect the
silver medal. It was their first attempt at the World
Championship, since Japan had enjoyed the traditional nine-man
Volleyball game and was rather reluctant to develop the six-man
version.
More
Men's HistoryPic: The Japanese Men's team on their
way to the gold medal in Munich 1972

Drawing of lots completed; World Cup match schedule announcedOctober
03, 2003 - Korea and USA launch the FIVB Women's World Cup
tournament on November 1 when they clash in Tokyo at 12:00
(local time) to kick off the quest for a fast track entry into
the Olympic Games in Athens, 2004. The full match schedules for
the 2003 Women's and Men's World Cups were confirmed on Friday
following the drawing of lots in Tokyo. The 12 teams in the
men's and women's tournaments play a round robin format in two
groups in which all teams meet each other.
More
Women's World Cup schedule
Men's World Cup schedule
Pic: USA and Korea open the Women's World Cup on November 1

Wild Cards announced for
first Olympic qualifierLausanne,
Switzerland, October 1, 2003 - The International Volleyball
Federation on Wednesday announced the allocation of two wild
cards for each of the Men's and Women's World Cup tournament to
take place in Japan in November. The top three teams qualify
directly for the Athens 2004 Olympic tournament.
More
French
Spanish
GermanPic: Serbia and Montenegro takes on Italy
during the 2003 World League NORCECA ChampionshipMexico & Cuba join Canada & USA
in semifinals Culiacan, Mexico, September 28, 2003 - Mexico and
Cuba both confirmed their spots in the semifinals of the XVIII
Men's NORCECA Championship on Sunday after recording wins over
Puerto Rico and Panama respectively in their final group
matches.
More
SpanishStory by Lissette Ricardo
More NORCECA Championship news

European Championships Italy European
ChampionsBerlin,
Germany, Sept. 14, 2003 - Italy emerged victorious 3-2 (25:18, 40:42, 25:28, 27:29, 15:9) in a five set thriller against
France to take the Men's European title in a match that lasted
almost two and a half hours and saw the lead change from one
team to another and had the capacity crowd in the Max-Schmelling
Halle on their feet for much of the match.
More
German
Pic: The victorious Italian squad
More
European Championship news

South American Continental
Championship
Venezuela secures spot in World Cup in
Men's South American Continental ChampionshipRio de Janiero,
Brazil, September 5, 2003 - Venezuela booked themselves a ticket
to the 2003 World Cup after recording their third win at the
South American Men's Continental Championship beating Paraguay
3-0 (25-05, 25-18, 25-14) in 1h04 on Friday in the Miécimo Da
Silva gymnasium, in Campo Grande.
More
More SouthAm Championship newsAfrican Nations
Championship
Tunisia claims eighth titleAugust
06, 2003 - Tunisia booked their ticket to the 2003
World Cup in Japan next November after beating
hosts Egypt in the final of the African Nations
Championship 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 27-25) on
Wednesday in Cairo to continue its domination of
the event having won eight of the 14 competitions.
MoreStory by Tarek AL-ADWAR, CAVB
Press Officer
Pic: Tunisia raise aloft the African Nations
trophy
More AfricaVolley Championship news